Upholding People's Rights under the Constitution

Monday, March 10, 2014

FOI Commissioner’s Decision was Published Online

“Giving Mr He
access to the documents that I have found to be conditionally exempt under s
47C would not, on balance, be contrary to the public interest.”

Mr Pilgrim referred to the Guidelines
issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under the FOI Act, in particular
the information that ‘the FOI Act promotes disclosure. Specifically, that disclosure will:

“inform the
community of the Government’s operations, including, in particular, the
policies, rules, guidelines, practices and codes of conduct followed by the
Government in its dealings with members of the community

“reveal the
reason for a government decision and any background or contextual information
that informed the decision.”

Mr Pilgrim concluded:

"I believe the disclosure of the information will assist to
inform the community of how government operates. In particular, I believe it
will assist the community in understanding that their correspondence or
submissions to the Office of the Prime Minister may not always be brought to
the personal attention of the Prime Minister."